


One Last Chance

by rarmaster



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-29 23:37:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15084227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarmaster/pseuds/rarmaster
Summary: Link raised the ocarina to his lips, and he prayed hard.Please… one more time… let me go back. Let me go back and help as many people as I can.





	One Last Chance

**Author's Note:**

> “Link, come on! That was the last of the giants, and we’ve still got a day left!” Tatl bounced around excitedly above his head. “You gonna play the Song of Double Time, or we gonna sit and relax for the rest of the day? …Link?”

He stared down at the blue ocarina in his hands, sighing deeply.

“Hey, _Link!_ ” Tatl fluttered impatiently in front of his face. He huffed and swatted her away, though half-heartedly. “Link, what’s up?”

He clutched the ocarina tightly between his small and kinda chubby fingers. Memories of the ocarina being much smaller in his hands—and his fingers having less baby fat—they were not as persistent as they had been, but they were still there, if he dug. He wasn’t sure if he was happy or sad that the memories were fading. They were only some use to him if they stayed, but the more they faded, the more they felt like a dream.

But that was not, currently, what he was worried about.

“It’s just…” He sent a glance up at Tatl. “All those people I helped… You know when I reset time again… it’s like I never helped them. It’s like I didn’t do anything!”

“Well, you’ll be helping them by stopping the moon from crushing them!”

“But that doesn’t save Romani and the cows from the aliens!” Link protested. “It doesn’t get the old lady at the Bomb Shop her big bomb bag! And Lulu and the Zoras will never come to the festival, and it won’t be spring for the Gorons, and- and I don’t even wanna _think_ about what the Deku King did to the monkey!”

“Can’t you help them all _after_ we call the giants and stop the moon?” Tatl asked.

Link shook his head aggressively. “It’s too late to help Romani. And the old lady at the Bomb Shop. And- and while I might have enough time to help Kafei get his sun mask back from Sakon, he doesn’t trust me yet, and unless I can talk Anju into giving me that letter _now…_ ” He trailed off. By now, Anju would be readying to leave town—she’d have given up hope. And why would she trust him if he told her he knew where Kafei was? Why would she trust a boy she couldn’t remember?

“Then… play the Song of Time again…” Tatl suggested. She hovered close to his shoulder, and though she was much too tiny for Link to see her face, she sounded concerned.

He looked over at her. “D’you think it’ll work this time? It’s not like I _need_ to go back to help everyone. It was a blessing of the Goddesses that it even worked to begin with.”

“It’s not going to hurt to try!”

Link slowly nodded. He raised the ocarina to his lips, playing a tune that had become habitual, after so many times of repeating it. He prayed hard. _Please… one more time… let me go back. Let me go back and help as many people as I can._

The notes faded, and for a second, nothing happened. Tatl bobbed up and down. Link pulled the ocarina from his mouth. He’d almost convinced himself that it hadn’t worked—that he’d run out of chances—but that was when the magic swelled around them, and everything blurred.

When everything stopped twisting, he found himself standing in a spot that he’d stood in countless times before. Looking out at the main square of Clock Town. The dog barking and running around in circles. The carpenters banging away on their project. A bird tweeting in the distance. The sun just starting to crack over the town’s walls.

“It worked…” Tatl said, slowly.

Link nodded. He felt a little breathless. “It worked…” he agreed.

Tatl bounced around his face a moment, making the sound of jangling bells. “Hey! Well! It might not work next time. C’mon, where first?”

 

 

**\- Dawn of the First Day -**

 

Link ran his finger down the pages of his Bomber’s Notebook, checking to be sure. He could not help everyone this cycle, but there were still plenty of people he could help. Anju and Kafei were his main priority, though perhaps only because he had dedicated two whole cycles to them before. He didn’t need to see Anju until 2 o’clock this afternoon. For the most part, he seemed to have the morning to do… _anything_ he wanted.

That made his first stop Zora Hall to see Lulu and fix her voice. He felt a little bad that he would not actually get her eggs back from the pirates this cycle, but even with the flow of time slowed, he was not comfortable enough with his skills to manage to get them and not miss his appointment with Anju.

His second stop was Romani Ranch, and there Romani taught him a song already knew, and he shot twenty balloons that would be nothing like the upcoming alien invasion. He had to be back here at 2 A.M., but he already knew that.

Link was almost late to see Anju get her letter from Kafei. He walked in just as the mailman was handing it over, instead of being early, as he had been for every other cycle. Anju was surprised, of course, when he told her he was looking for Kafei as well—and for at least the third time, he forced himself not to tell her he knew where Kafei was, _exactly_ where Kafei was. He thought about telling her Kafei was not hiding because of the reason she thought, but that could wait until tonight’s meeting.

“Hey, wait a minute, Link,” Tatl said, as she fluttered above the pages of his Bomber’s Notebook. They sat on the ground right outside the inn, checking to see who else could be helped today. “You can’t help the lady from the Bomb Shop. Sakon attacks her at midnight, and you know that Anju runs late to your meeting.”

“Oh yeah…” Link sighed, fingering the corner of the page. “I keep thinking she’s attacked at 1… Oh well, Kafei won’t find his way to Sakon’s hideout if Sakon doesn’t get that bomb bag, anyway. I’ll just buy it from the Curiosity Shop and give it to her once this is all done.”

“Alright. Where next, then?”

“Uh, do you think we have enough time to save the Deku Princess?”

“Probably.”

“Let’s do that then. I don’t feel comfortable leaving that monkey much longer.”

 

 

**\- Night of the First Day -**

 

The Deku Princess and monkey were easily saved, and Link was even a little early to his meeting with Anju. He made sure to slow the flow of time, just to make sure he would not be late for his appointment at Romani Ranch.

The meeting with Anju went as it always did—Link tried to make sure he sounded as polite and interested as possible. He did _care,_ he’d just heard her say this all before. At least Tatl kept her mouth shut. Link would’ve told Anju that she should not be so worried about Kafei, but there wasn’t an opening in the conversation, and he didn’t want to waste too much more time talking to her.

He was nearly late to Romani Ranch as it was.

“Speed up time again, quick!” Tatl told him, jangling furiously in his ear.

“Want the aliens to get here sooner?” Link laughed, readying his bow. Epona was safe inside the barn with the cows—it was too difficult to protect the barn while riding her, but he didn’t trust the aliens wouldn’t nab her if he left her out.

“No, but I don’t want to spend three times as long waiting for it to be morning! Hurry up!”

Tatl had a point there, so Link hastily returned the flow of time to normal, and spent the rest of the night fighting of aliens. Even though he had fought a lot of monsters before, this was still the most nerve wracking thing he’d ever done, just as it was the first and second times he’d done it. (The first he had failed, and had watched in horror as Romani was whisked away, before he remembered he could reset time and try again.)

He had never been more grateful to see the dawn.

 

 

**\- Dawn of the Second Day -**

 

Link soared back to Clock Town after Romani had thanked him for his help, and after he’d spoken to Cremia. He was not sure he would be able to save her from the Gorman brothers tonight, though. He’d have to check his Notebook. But first, he had to mail the letter.

“Still don’t see why you can’t have just mailed it last night,” Tatl remarked, as Link shoved it into the slot.

“Anju told me to mail it in the _morning,_ ” he replied. “I don’t want to mess up, especially not this time around. Besides, we may have been late to save Romani if I’d stopped to mail it.”

“Hmm… I guess you have a point.” Tatl hovered by his shoulder. “What next? Don’t we have until the afternoon until this actually gets delivered?”

“Mmhmm.” Link waited until they were under shelter before he pulled out his Bomber’s Notebook and double-checked. The rain would start any minute now. “There isn’t anyone I _need_ to help now, but I could always go help out the girl in Ikana Canyon,—oh, and the Ghost King there, though I’m not sure if I’ll have time for both. That or I could defeat Goht again.” He’d fought Goht maybe three times now, just to make it spring again in the mountains. Perhaps once he stopped the moon and Skull Kid, it would become spring without him fighting Goht. That would be nice.

Tatl shook a little in the air. The rain started pounding on the thatch above their heads. “I’m not in the mood for a big battle right now, Link,” Tatl said. “How about a nap?”

“Huh?” Link rubbed at his eyes. “I’m not that tired though.”

“You’ve been up all night.”

“But the girl—”

“Can be helped later. Let’s go ask Anju if she can lend you a bed in the inn for a few hours. I’ll wake you up in time to see Kafei.”

Link didn’t need to be pressed much harder before he relented. Tatl was just like Navi sometimes, though she tended to be a little rougher. Maybe it was because she had to deal with her brother all the time. He made sure to remind her he needed to be up _before_ three, then they darted through the rain and to the inn.

It was one of the dancer twins who let him borrow a bed for a few hours in the end, as she kept mumbling about how their dance needed work. That’s right. He hadn’t taught them that dance this cycle. Maybe he’d do it tonight. After he saved Cremia. He started to tell Tatl to remind him, but fell asleep before he could even form a word. It had been a long first day.

Tatl woke him up a little late, but he suspected she’d been napping too. She flew into his hat and stayed there as he went to talk to Kafei. Link was sure if he listened hard enough he could hear her snoring. He held one of his masks over his head to shield her from the rain.

Kafei talked on and on, as he always did, then gave Link the pendant to give to Anju. Link considered telling Kafei that he knew who the thief was, and where his hideout was, but Link only knew of one time when Sakon returned to it, and that was on the final night, when Kafei would already be there. So Link kept quiet about Sakon, took the pendant to Anju (he still loved the way her face lit up when she saw it), then headed to Romani Ranch.

 

 

**\- Night of the Second Day -**

“Hey, what are you doing here?”  Cremia asked, as he trotted up to her cart. Thankfully, he wasn’t late. “Romani said you left.”

“Well, I had an important letter to deliver,” Link said. It wasn’t a lie. Tatl was still asleep in his hat. “But here I am now!”

“Well, Romani’s with the cows, if you’d like to play with her until I get back—”

“What? No! Uh-” Link bit his lip, hoping he hadn’t shouted too loud. “I- I wanted to ride with you, back to Clock Town.”

Cremia eyed him suspiciously. “So, let me get this straight… you came all this way from Clock Town… just so I could take you back _to_ Clock Town?”

“I, uh… Yeah…” Link shuffled his feet. That probably sounded pretty weird, but he couldn’t tell her he knew she’d get attacked by bandits on the way back. That was probably breaking some laws about time, or something, plus she wouldn’t believe him. “I’ve just… I’ve never ridden a cart before…” That was a lie, but… There was nothing he could do. He put on his best pleading face, hoping that would at least convince her.

After a moment, Cremia sighed. “Well, alright, it’s not like I don’t have room for you. Hop in. And hold on, it’ll be bumpy.”

“Thank you!!” Link scrambled into the back of the cart, careful not to tip any of the milk over. He almost got out his bow to make sure it was ready, but that would spoil his act, so he leaned out the front of the cart and tried to look really excited. Cremia didn’t seem suspicious anymore, but she was laughing a little as she made the horses go.

They made idle talk along the way, though Cremia asked a lot of uncomfortable questions about where he was from and about his parents. She’d asked these the last time, too, and Link still didn’t know how to answer. Finally, though, they hit the fence blocking their way, and Cremia stopped asking questions as she turned down the alternate route. Link pulled out his bow now, readying it, along with shaking Tatl out of his hat. He was a pretty good shot without her, but it he still didn’t trust his aim in the dark, especially not on anything that was moving.

“Oh, so she _did_ let you on the cart,” Tatl exclaimed, with a yawn.

“Tatl! Shh!”

Thankfully, Cremia wasn’t listening, because it was then that the Gorman brothers rode up behind them. “Bandits!” she called. “I knew this would happen.”

“I have a bow and arrow,” Link offered. “I can shoot at them—just to distract them. Would that help?” He would have done it without Cremia’s permission, but he didn’t want to surprise her. He’d grown extra cautious not to surprise anyone with his timing.

“Yes!” Cremia said, over her shoulder. “Quick, boy!”

“On it!”

The Gorman brothers were persistent, but after hitting one of them in the shoulder (it had been an accident, actually), they backed off.

Cremia started asking a lot of questions about where he’d learned to be such a good shot, among other things, and a lot of thanks. He said he’d had a lot of practice, told her it was nothing, he was glad to help, and so on.

Once they got to Clock Town, Cremia started going on about how the moment a kid goes a good deed he becomes an adult, or whatever, which bugged Link as much as it had the first time. It hardly made sense, and seemed like a weird philosophy. Besides, if he was anything like an adult for any reason, it wouldn’t be from helping people—it would be from the fact he had _been_ an adult for a time there, even if only physically. He was missing Navi less and less these days, but he still wished she was here, so he could ask him about what Cremia had meant. He’d tried asking Tatl last cycle, but she had been even less help.

“Should we find somewhere to sleep for the night?” Tatl asked, as the two of them left Cremia at the Milk bar and headed into town.

He swatted at her playfully. “Sleep? You were sleeping all day!” Tatl bumped him in the ear, and he laughed, changing his direction so they’d be heading for the West part of Clock Town. “Maybe in a bit, I wanna teach those girl dancers the new dance.”

“That’s not _that_ important, Link,” Tatl groaned.

“Sure it is! They want a new dance before the Carnival—And it’ll only take a bit.” Link grinned at her. “Hey, you start thinking about where we can sleep tonight, because I don’t think we’ll be getting a bed.”

“Alright, alright, fine! I’m just glad this will be over tomorrow.”

 

 

**\- Dawn of the Final Day -**

 

Link took a deep breath, a heavy knot in his stomach. He held his Bomber’s Notebook open, but he was not looking at it. He was looking up at the moon. Not much longer now, and he’d be heading up there to stop the Skull Kid.

“Link, come on!” Tatl was tugging at his ear. “You should be filling up your bottles with fairies and maybe some of that Chateau Romani, just in case. You know you won’t have time after you help Kafei get his mask back, they’ll only barely be enough time to get up to stop the moon as it is!”

“Right…” Link swallowed past butterflies. Tonight, he would have to stop the moon, and there was no telling what would happen then. Tonight.

He pulled out his ocarina.

 

 

**\- Night of the Final Day -**

 

Link honestly felt like he was going to puke. The luxury of resetting time and trying again had vanished from him, so he had to get it right this time. He had to get it right. And he could not fail in stopping the moon, or all his efforts would be wasted.

He almost messed up getting Kafei’s mask back, he was so nervous—had Kafei not chucked a pot at the Wolfos to distract it, they may not have made it through the final door. Kafei scolded him for nearly risking it, then thanked him for helping anyway, and then was running back to Clock Town. Link should’ve offered to give him a lift with the Song of Soaring, but Tatl didn’t give him a chance.

“You idiot!” she shouted, bouncing in front of his face. “What if you had messed that up, huh? You were the one who wanted to come back all this way just to help everyone _for real,_ and you almost blew it!”

Link bit his tongue. “I’m sorry,” he said, though Tatl was not who he needed to be apologizing to. He pulled his ocarina out, shooing her away so he could play. “Now come on, we’ve only got a little time.”

“I know that! Play already! Play!”

Link did, and soon they stood before the Clock Tower. There were still knots in his stomach. It was now. He was going to end this now…

He just hoped it would be easy… Tatl spoke like once they stopped the moon, it wouldn’t be hard to talk some sense into the Skull Kid. But she can’t have made him get those fairies for nothing… And the feeling in Link’s gut was just like the one he’d gotten before facing Ganon the final time. What if it took more than that? The mask the Skull Kid had was supposed to hold a great evil. Would he have to fight it? Could he win?

_I’ll have to,_ he thought. _Everyone’s counting on me._

He’d have to do it, and he’d have to win. He forced down the terror in his belly, and he climbed to the top of the Clock Tower. He’d have to win. He was going to win.

 

 

**\- Dawn of a New Day -**

 

Link closed his Bomber’s Notebook, nodding with satisfaction. Tatl had left already to join her brother and the Skull Kid again—though all four of them had enjoyed the Carnival together. That was everyone, though, everyone who still needed help.

He’d bought the big bomb bag from the Curiosity Shop and given it to the folks at the Bomb Shop. (He told them he’d gotten it back from the thief—no need to get the guy from the Curiosity Shop in trouble.)

Spring had returned to the mountains without Link’s interference, which was perhaps the best thing. Now the Gorons wouldn’t be counting on a hero back from the dead to help them. Link wasn’t sure _how_ spring had returned, but, perhaps, it was because Majora was defeated, and Goht’s power had faded as well.

Seeing as the Great Bay was in similarly good condition, that was probably what had happened. Which was a relief. Gyorg was the _last_ thing Link wanted to fight again.

He still had to go to Ikana Canyon, to rescue Sharp, and Pamela, and her father. That had been the easy bit. Saving Ikana’s ghost king was a little harder, especially without Tatl, but the Light Arrows helped, and he’d managed it in the end. The King’s thank you gift was still that song, but Link played along and pretended he hadn’t already known it.

The Happy Mask Salesman had tried to talk him out of his masks for large sums of rupees, but Link had refused. He _did_ give the Happy Mask Salesman one mask, though—the Fierce Deity Mask. Holding onto it made Link’s skin crawl, and the Happy Mask Salesman promised to keep it safe and out of irresponsible hands.

Termina was saved.

Link put his Bomber’s Notebook back in his belt, and hopped on Epona. Now it was time to go home.


End file.
